Rampart (2011), US
I loved the movie from the opening sequence. The soundtrack, the way Woody Harrelson carried himself and the way he talked, the camerawork. It was obvious from the first two minutes that this was going to be a dark, sad and depressing film offering no easy solutions. James Elroy’s touch is obvious though this time round, the focus is on a deeply corrupt, racist, violent and misogynistic cop rather than focusing on a police department as the title might infer. The film reminded me of old favorites of mine, Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant and Beat Takeshi’s Violent Cop. Great cameos by Ned Beatty, the ravishing Robin Wright, Steve Buscemi and Signourney Weaver. And Woody Harrelson. Wow. The stuff of Oscars which he so obviously won’t be receiving. This film is him and he is the film. He appears in every scene and fills up the screen with charisma and passion. By the end of it you find yourself rooting for him. Serious stuff.
3.5/5
Machete (2010), US
This is a mixed bag. It’s sort of a tribute to exploitation cinema though at times tends to be so silly it almost seems that it is parodying the genre. Also annoying is the abundance of “clever” nod nod wink wink cameos (e.g. Don Johnson, Steven Segal, Lindsay Lohan, and the list goes on and on and on) which if used more stingily could’ve had a much greater effect. The plot is of course quite silly though it is meant to be which is why it feels contrived that Rodriguez tries to add a layer of social commentary to the proceedings. Truthfully, about midway through I actually got a little bored. In terms of casting, Danny Trejo gets it just right in lead role though Jessica Alba while showing great intent, just isn’t camp enough for her role. Michelle Rodriguez on the other hand is perfect, especially when revealing her superhero Tarantino-esque leather bikini outfit towards the end of the film.
2/5
This Must Be The Place (Italy), 2011
An incoherent and bizarre little film from the acclaimed Paolo Sorrentino, left me scratching my head by the end of it. Other than a few ingenious shots, a hilarious looking Sean Penn and a standout live rendition of a Talking Heads’ track which lent its name to the title of this film, it is ultimately a deeply disappointing film which manages to really annoy (namely Sean Penn’s character, the almost insulting treatment of the Holocaust, the unexplained relationships with the tatooed Irish girl and with his down to earth, practical and completely unmatched partner played by Frances McDormand, and the list goes on).
2/5
The Girl Next Door (2007)
Gregory Wilson’s adaptation of Jack Ketchum’s loose take on the horrifying real life story of the abduction and horrendous abuse and torture of a girl is an unsettling and harrowing experience and clearly not for all viewers. Despite its somewhat modest budget, it recreates 60s American suburbia with detail and care. Casting of mostly anonymous actors is pretty spot on but the actual story is, to put it mildly, not a fun experience to watch. My main problem with this film however is its irrational pacing. It starts off slow and shows with lush and warm colors a lovely suburb and the main characters (a bit Stand By Me at times) but the speed with which we move from the main girl getting mildly abused verbally to receiving a clitoral circumcision with a gas burner is beyond logic or comprehension. But worse is the anti climactic and very speedy resolution of the story. Shame. Oh, and the random insinuations that this film can be filed as a torture porn flick is simply stupid and insulting.
1.5/5
The Grey (2011), US
Must admit that this totally surprised me. The film is superbly cast (not just Liam Neeson, the whole 7 member team deliver nuanced and charismatic roles), beautifully shot (apparently mostly on location which gives the film a real feel of authenticity and realism) and well paced to create a taut and relentless 2 hour viewing experience. The dialogue is also quite intelligent which is not a given in films of this nature. If I had one gripe it would be some of the CGI effects used for the portrayal of the wolves which seemed a little artificial.
3/5
God Bless America (2011), US
Kind of a cross between 1993’s Falling Down and 1994’s Natural Born Killers, only cheaper and more simplistic. Having said that, one of the news headlines (!!) on this morning’s BBC’s World Service was that a dancing dog won Britain’s Got Talent competition - and that’s exactly what this film was made to protest against.
2.5/5
I Spit on your Grave (2010), US
Not quite sure what the point was of remaking the 1978 exploitation/grindhouse rape/revenge extravaganza. The only differences I found was that in the new version, the overall feel was much glossier, the revenge killings way more brutal and unjustifiably creative in terms of the plot (given the genre offerings available in 2010, a la Jigsaw and the likes, presumably the creators felt they had to go one up in order to get the potential gore fans’ attention), and the lead, played by Sarah Butler, while extremely brave of her (and arguably stupid career wise), was much less convincing or scary than Camille Keaton’s original version.
In the same way that I find it extremely difficult to be convinced by music covers, I am cynical about the motives of film creators remaking films. In music I believe that (a) you need to be an artist with a unique, distinct and fairly wide catalog to even begin to consider the possibility of covering someone else’s music;and (b) the cover itself needs to provide some added value, some new interpretation shaped by the artist’s unique voice. I think that can be translated directly to film and when I think of I Spit.. circa. 2010, I cannot find any redeeming features.
1/5
The Corridor (2010), Canada
Watching this and many similar genre films made me realize that it must be so damn hard building up a great story, developing the characters, continually raising the tension while maintaining some originality and, and here’s the catch, bringing the plot to its ultimate peak/bloodbath/resolution/surprise twist ending without disappointing. And this film ain’t no different. Its starts off with a mysterious and scary scene which leaves you with lots of question marks and a need to figure out how these characters ended up in this terrifying scene. It then builds up slowly with a lovely acoustic soundtrack and lots of unusually detailed character depth but, about 2/3 off the way in its pretty obvious where things are going and pretty clear the creators got totally confused as to how they should wrap things up. The disappointment is high.
2/5
Meek’s Cutoff (2010), US
Sparse, enigmatic, almost plotless arthouse take on the classic westerns. Stunning cinematography, intriguing perspectives and head scratching ending. Loved the meticulous focus on the little details which really bring home the pain, struggle, sweat, effort, frustration, fear, thirst and boredom settlers faced when they crossed/wandered through/got lost in the Oregonian desert back in the day.
3/5
Cannibal (2010), Belgium
An extremely unsuccessful low budget indie Euro thriller/horror about a guy with agoraphobia living in a cabin in the woods who falls in love with a mysterious woman whom he stumbles upon and who turns out to be a cannibal. Nothing in this film works, whether its the silly plot, the unconvincing acting (mainly Helena Coppejans who makes a pretty weak effort at this quite complex character), the annoying handheld photography which insists throughout the film on extreme close ups and the uneven editing. A bit of a silly and unimaginative title too.
1.5/5
